Google Unveils Version 5 OS Android L – Lollipop

Google I/O announced the biggest update to the operating system, Android L, with a cross platform design, which is the synchronicity between tablets, computers, wearables, phones, TVs and other electronic devices. With Android L, the year 2015 will see unified ecosystems across all electronics. Android L is set as the version 5.0 OS, but it is likely to have a different name upon its public launch. Lollipop and Lemon Meringue Pie are the other hearsay names for the version 5 operating system. A photo of the birthday cake taken on the company’s sixteenth birthday that Google uploaded shows a variety of colorful lollipops on top of the cake, which could be a hint that Lollipop would likely be the official name of the version 5.0 OS. Android L will likely debut on the new Motorola Nexus versions as well as Google Play edition devices in the next couple of weeks. Now that Google has unveiled Lollipop we can expect more hardware manufacturers inculcate the Android into their Smartphones and tablets.

Lollipop Material Design

The newest feature of the 5.0 version is the inclusion of Material Design which makes navigating the device much easier. Triangle, circle and square are the new navigation buttons. This is a new design interface with numerous fluid animations. Material design is an effort by Google to establish a trust between the user and the Android’s user interface. It can predict to the user what kinds of reactions he is going to get when he touches or uses a particular UI. It inculcates virtual physics, that is, how fast should objects change size, how they should move, how much should they bounce, how they should accelerate or decelerate, how to get them off the screen and when it is time for them to go, how to add or delete an item, and what kind of interactions are allowed to take place on UI elements.

The new update will be bring new visual twists including adding color to the navigation tabs that blend in with the title bar, apps will be in green, Newsstand will be blue than, Music will have an orange color, Books with a darker blue, and Movies in red. The app icons will look a little flatter than before.

Multitasking Additional

Google has brought in the floating multi-window concept in Android L. Working on multiple apps and swapping will become easier and simpler with these multitasking concepts. You can split the screen in portions, place small windows over the top of another, thus giving you a virtually bigger interface. Android will now work with apps in a card-based list, that is, if you have three Chrome tabs open at the same time you will now get three cards representing the individual chrome tabs.

Notifications

The Lollipop will make notifications even better. Initially notifications appear on the lock screen and will be automatically ordered according to priority. Either you can swipe them away or double tap to open the notification. Android L has new ways to control when and how you receive messages and will get interrupted only when you want to be. You can view and respond to messages directly from your lock screen and permits you to hide sensitive content for these notifications. You can set a priority option to let notifications get through without letting it disturb you. All your notifications can be viewed in one place by tapping the top of the screen

Multiple Users for Phones

Android 5.0 facilitates multiple user accounts including a guest user mode. Guest user means you can lend your hardware, but not the contents. There are now new ways like Screen pinning and more to secure your device using trusted Bluetooth connections. Don’t worry if you forget to take your phone. You can call any of your friends or send messages, photos and more by simply logging on to any Android phone which runs Lollipop. This is a perfect feature for families who want to share a phone, but not their personals.

Android 5.0 is first version of Android that uses the 64-bit architecture. Chips with more bits can handle more memory Google claims that the 64-bit will increase the amount of addressable memory space, have larger number of registers, and will have new instruction sets. The 64-bit version could be a lot faster and more stable than the 32-bit version and the batteries last longer. Google has developed a new tool called Battery Historian which gives developers a better idea of how much battery power an app needs, The historian lets you foresee the power events over time and perceive how much of the battery your app is using. The new job scheduler API inside the OS allows developers schedule a priority list of jobs.

Battery

Android 5.0 features improvements in battery efficiency, thanks to Project Volta which has developed the battery saver mode which extends the Android device’s battery life by about 90 minutes extra when it is low on power. All devices running on Android L will be able to activate the battery saver mode.

Lock

Android Smart Lock can secure your phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device like your wearable or even your car. Personal Unlocking is another new feature by which you can use a PIN, a pattern, or a password unlock to set a security under certain circumstances while this security can be bypassed when not necessary.

Availability

Lollipop will be available on Friday, October 17th.Both the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 handsets will be getting the Android L update by the end of the year. It is rumored that Motorola will release the update only 90 days after it gets the finalized source code from Google. A leak from Android Police says that Google’s Play Store will be getting the Android L update soon.